


Family Reunion

by Climbergirlio



Category: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: But I love the friendship the four of them have, F/M, Family Reunions, Friendship, Literally just the original exchange group hanging out, plus some Dairshaun because I couldn't resist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:49:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27600272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Climbergirlio/pseuds/Climbergirlio
Summary: Every year, to celebrate that first Wizard Exchange, Dairine, Roshaun, Filif, and Sker'ret meet up on Earth for what they call a "Family Reunion". This year, Dairine and Roshaun may be revealing some news they thought everyone already knew...
Relationships: Dairine Callahan & Carmela Rodriguez, Dairine Callahan & Filif (Young Wizards), Dairine Callahan & Kit Rodriguez, Dairine Callahan & Nita Callahan, Dairine Callahan & Roshaun ke Nelaid, Dairine Callahan & Sker'ret (Young Wizards), Dairine Callahan/Roshaun ke Nelaid
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	1. Reunited

Dairine stepped down onto the grass and surveyed her backyard. Today was the first day of what they had affectionately called a “Family Reunion” after the Earthen phenomenon. Every year since the first time Filif, Sker’ret, and Roshaun had first arrived for the exchange, the group had met up for a day or two and celebrated the anniversary of that first meeting by hosting a meet-up at Dairine’s, and today marked the first day of that event.

She glanced down at her watch as she entered the small patch of trees. Sker’ret arrived seconds after she had walked into the six foot space, incredibly punctual as usual. 

“Sker’ret!” Dairine hugged as much of him as she could grab onto, “how have you been?”

Sker’ret chuckled slightly, “busy. I have been looking forward to this ‘Family Reunion’ for quite some time.”

“As have I.”

“The others are not here yet?” 

Dairine glanced at her watch, “no but they should be soon. I am afraid the other two do not have your punctuality.”

Dairine barely had finished her sentence before the next figure materialized. Filif arrived with his customary grace, barely disturbing the leaves he landed on. He shook slightly and greeted both Dairine and Sker’ret happily. 

“And where is Roshaun?” Filif asked.

Dairine glared at nothing in particular, “late, it appears.” She scowled at the ground briefly before looking back at her guests with a smile. “My dad has a new kind of soil for you to root in, Fil. And our neighbors were getting rid of an old children’s swing set the other day, so we picked up the scraps for you Sker’ret.”

“That wasn’t necessary,” Sker’ret begins.

“Seriously, guys, you need to learn that we like to spoil you. It’s fun for us to have you here.”

“Well I appreciate it,” Filif says. 

“As do I,” Sker’ret tells her, “I have grown incredibly fond of Earth.”

“It does grow on you, doesn’t it?”

A small pop of air interrupts the conversation and Dairine turns, brow raised to greet Roshaun. His entrance is greatly subdued from that first day, but he is still dressed in Wellakhit formal wear. She knows this is because he probably came directly from some meeting, but it still makes her want to laugh, roll her eyes, or both. “You’re late,” is Dairine’s form of greeting. 

“Hello to you too Dairine.” 

“We were just beginning to worry you had forgotten us,” Filif tells Roshaun. 

“I rather doubt I would be allowed to,” Roshaun responds. 

Sker’ret laughs at that, “you are correct there, cousin.”

Dairine rolls her eyes at them and turns and leads the way back to the house. 

The boys set up their pup-tents in the basement for old times sake while Dairine sits on the basement steps and watches. The basement has been slightly improved since the first time these particular guests had stayed there, and now was halfheartedly finished. There’s some carpeting and the junk has been cleaned out somewhat. There’s also a couple of tired looking chairs to one side of the room, though no one ever uses them. 

“You guys hungry?” Dairine asks from her place on the steps. 

“Always,” Sker’ret ambles towards her, “but I think I’ll save that play structure you mentioned for tomorrow.”

“Not if you’re cooking,” Roshaun’s voice carries through the cluttered room. 

Dairine rolls her eyes, “are you volunteering, Sunlord?”

He joins Sker’ret at the foot of the stairs and stares down at her in that superior way of his, “a King does not  _ volunteer _ .”

She stands, swatting his arm in the process, and begins making her way up the stairs, “well then I guess I’ll be making dinner for me and my dad only. Sker’ret, you can have the cans.” 

“Where is your sister?” Filif asks when they reach the top.

“Good question. She went out with Kit this morning, but I don’t know where they were headed. They might be back for dinner actually.”

“And what is it that you’re making?” Roshaun inquires. 

Dairine looks through the cabinets. They’re disappointingly empty. “Nothing for you,” she bites back.

“Nothing for anyone by the looks of your food supply.” 

She glares at him. 

The front door opening saves Dairine from having to respond. The door subsequently shuts and she hears her dad walk into the house. She glances at her watch. It’s a little early for him to be home yet. He walks into the kitchen, a smile on his face as he takes in the guests. The scene is much tamer than the first time he had encountered this particular group. Roshaun is lounging casually against a counter, lollipop stick already dangling from his mouth. Filif is in the far end of the room, as calm as ever, and Sker’ret is simply watching Dairine, laid out over a dining chair as best he can. 

“Sker’ret, Fil. Glad you could make it. Hello again, Roshaun. I must have just missed you at the store.”

“It seems so. My Royal Father wished me to express his regret at not being able to visit.”

“I do look forward to seeing him, but I already have you kids for company.”

“It is so kind of you to host us each year,” Filif tells Dairine’s dad. 

“It’s really no trouble. No trouble at all. I like having you kids around the house.”

“We have no food again Daddy. I was thinking pizza for dinner?”

Her dad sighs, “I meant to stop by the store on my way home yesterday.”

Dairine laughs, “I’m sure Neets will go with you tomorrow. But for now, pizza?”

“Sure. I’ll have a couple pizzas delivered. I’m going to go freshen up after work. Your sister will be home soon. Stay out of trouble until then.”

Dairine pulls her best affronted face, “me? Get into trouble? Never.”

“If never means always,” Roshaun mutters under his breath. He’s close enough so that Dairine can smack him. She does. 

Her dad trudges up the stairs slowly. Once he reaches the top, Dairine turns back to her friends with a wicked grin. Roshaun sighs audibly, but they all know it’s just a show. He is the second most reckless member of their group and would quite literally follow Dairine into fire. 

“Since I’ve been absolved of dinner responsibility, who wants to go to the swimming pool in Nita’s playspace?”

“I don’t believe I am familiar with the concept of a swimming pool,” Filif admits. 

“Basically they’re holes filled with water. Kind of like a giant bathtub”

“And why would we not go to a beach?” Roshaun asks. 

“That would require us to actually go to a beach and besides, we’ve already done that.”

Sker’ret is nodding a few eye stalks thoughtfully, “my people have a roughly analogous equivalent.”

“Why does your sister even have such a thing in her playspace?” Roshaun is, as always, the source of the question. 

Dairine shrugs, “it’s some sort of independent research. I think she’s using it to try and help with lucid dreaming? All I know for sure is that she has one.”

“I do not believe my people’s physiology would be compatible with such a phenomenon, but if it is like the beach we went to, I could observe,” Filif offers. 

“I’ll just go get changed then,” Dairine tells them. 

“As will I,” Roshaun follows after her. 

Their path splits at the basement stairs. He heads down, Dairine heads to her room on the second floor. She would have liked to have had a moment to speak with him, since manual calling is just not the same as in person, but they’ll probably have to wait until the evening for that. For now, she needs to change. In pursuit of this goal, she climbs the steps quickly and flies through the doorway into her room. Once there, she roots around in her dresser briefly before coming up with a green bikini Carmela had forced her into accepting just over a week earlier. She had worn her trusty one piece yesterday out with the Earthen wizards to observe Mamvish’s lack of progress with the Komodo Dragons. As a result, it was currently in the wash so the bikini was her only option. 

She pulls the swimsuit on with some reluctance. It fits perfectly, not that she’s too surprised. She’s not quite sure when or how Carmela memorized her size, but it’s evident she did. Dairine examines herself briefly in her mirror. The swimsuit  _ does  _ look nice on her, as Carmela had assured her it would. She shakes her head briefly at herself and pulls a T-Shirt and shorts on over the bikini before heading down the stairs and back out into the yard. 

She’s a little surprised to see that Sker’ret and Filif are nowhere to be found, but she figures they’ll all find their way to the playspace eventually, so she opens the access and heads in to set up. She accesses the little clock strand of the kernel to find the recent history. The pool is the most recently used. She calls that up and waits a moment for it to appear. Once it does, she walks over and sticks a hand in the water, finding it to be a good temperature. Roshaun will probably complain about it being cold, but there is no helping that. There’s no seating, which is slightly unfortunate, so Dairine has to set her towel, water bottle, and shoes on the ground. She picks a spot some distance from the pool itself and then takes off her shorts. As she’s doing this, Roshaun walks in. 

She whips her shirt over her head and then smirks when she catches him staring, “like the view?” she asks teasingly. 

Roshaun startles slightly, and moves his gaze to her face. He crosses the space between them rather quickly in an attempt to seem not guilty. He shucks off his shoes as well before removing the shirt that had been covering his upper body. She allows herself a quick appreciative glance. 

“How about testing the water?” she asks, “we wouldn’t want it to be too cold for you. Who knows what we might have to do to get you...warm again.”

Roshaun steps ever so slightly closer to her, “who knows indeed?” 

There is a brief pause as they stare into each other’s eyes, each challenging the other to be the first to move. 

The moment is broken by the entrance of Sker’ret. Dairine steps back slightly, pretending to adjust her towel one last time. “Where’s Filif?”

“Talking to Harry. He will be here shortly. Do your people have a custom regarding pools?”

Dairine shrugs, “not really. Different people do different things. Basically so long as you don’t drown, anything goes.”

“Your people’s lack of structure will never fail to baffle me,” Roshaun comments from next to her. 

She rolls her eyes, “ _ we _ like to have fun.”

He ignores her and goes to the edge of the pool, lowering himself slowly into it. The water reaches to just above his shoulder, which means Dairine will probably have to tread water the whole time. Roshaun frowns at her, “it’s cold.”

“Deal with it,” she runs at full speed and jumps in as close to him as she can. 

When she resurfaces he is pushing wet hair from his face and glaring at her. Sker’ret takes a more calm approach, slinking in over the edge. He floats slightly in the water. Filif is still nowhere to be found, but Dairine is not too concerned. He’ll turn up eventually. He usually likes to spend some time out in the sun before joining them indoors, which she can’t fault him for. Sometimes, when he is having a bad day, Roshaun is the same way. Today is not a bad day, though, he seems perfectly content in the playspace. Dairine swims down to the other end of the pool and back, getting used to the water. Roshaun eyes her with that superior air of his, a contrast to Sker’ret who is floating happily, flipping from side to side. 

“Helloooooo,” calls a voice instantly identifiable as Carmela. 

Dairine shifts to see her better. She’s following Filif into the space and is holding a hot pink pool float. She has a matching bathing suit on. “How did you even know we were going to be swimming?”

Carmela grins at her, “I have my ways.”

Dairine shakes her head but decides she doesn’t actually want to know. 

Filif places himself near the edge of the pool while Carmela daintily climbs into her float. When she’s settled she eyes them all. “I see you’re wearing the swimsuit I gave you. An excellent choice.”

“I didn’t have any other choices.”

Carmela ignores this, “now, Filif tells me you haven’t been in here for long so I assume you haven’t had the opportunity to play any pool games yet. How about a round of truth or dunk?”

“I do not believe I am familiar with the game,” Sker’ret says. 

“Well it’s basically like truth or dare, except one person asks a question to another person and they either have to answer truthfully or sit on the bottom of the pool for ten seconds. And it has to be a full ten seconds, no cheating. If you don’t make the full ten the first try, you have to go again.”

Roshaun frowns, “and you find this game entertaining?”

“Of course,” Carmela grins, “I’ll go first. Dairine, in baseball terms, what’s the farthest you’ve gone.”

Dairine glares at her, but she flushes red despite herself, “you wanted to play this just so you could ask that didn’t you?”

“Are you going to answer or not?” Carmela asks sweetly. 

She dives under the water and sits on the bottom for a full ten seconds, plus an extra two to make Carmela happy in the form of a response. 

“You’re no fun,” Carmela sighs when she resurfaces. 

“The meaning of your question did not translate cross-culturally,” Filif begins to ask.

Carmela cuts him off, “when most hominids engage in sexual acts, there is an element of pleasure to the exercise. Some of the precursor acts to sexual reproduction itself are also pleasurable though. Some people on Earth measure how close you are to the actual act of having sex in terms of bases, which we get from a popular sport.”

Dairine coughs slightly to hide her embarrassment and looks anywhere but at Roshaun, “aside from metaphors relating to sexual acts, baseball is pretty culturally significant. We might be able to watch some tonight.”

“Or we could watch A League of Their Own. That movie was an important part of my sexual awakening.”

“I’ve never seen it,” Dairine admits. 

Carmela rolls her eyes, “of course you haven’t. Now stop stalling, it’s your turn.”

Dairine groans but turns toward Sker’ret, “what’s the biggest thing you’ve gotten away with at the Crossings?”

Sker’ret thinks for a moment, “probably eating everything when the aliens blew it up.”

Dairine flips so she’s floating on her back for a moment and shifts her gaze to land on Roshaun. He is making figure eights underwater with his hands. It’s strangely endearing. 

It’s Sker’ret’s turn, “Carmela, do you ever wish you were a wizard?”

Carmela thinks for a moment, “no. I’d have to follow the rules then,” she wrinkles her nose slightly, “the way I see it, I get the benefits with none of the drawbacks.”

Dairine flips back to treading water. 

“Dari, who was the first boy you crushed on?”

“Luke Skywalker.”

Carmela rolls her eyes, “doesn’t count. He’s not actually a real person.”

“Be more specific next time. ‘Mela, what’s the weirdest place you’ve made out with Ronan?”

She thinks about this for almost a full minute, “it’s close, but I’d have to say in an alien brothel.”

“What were you doing in a brothel?!?”

“Technically, you’ve now reached two questions. But I’m an open book so I’ll tell you anyway. It was technically an accident, we were trying to get to the chocolate store across the road but got the wrong coordinates. Then we just tried to blend in.”

“A most uncommon problem, I should think,” Roshaun offers. 

Carmela ignores him, “Filif, since you’re not in the water, you just have to answer. Who out of all of us is your favorite.”

“That’s not a fair question,” Dairine points out.

“And yet I asked it all the same.”

Filif thinks for a long while. “You, Kharmella, because you bring me decorations.”

Dairine laughs at that, and switches back to floating. 

Filif looks them all over, “Roshaun, who would you be for a day if you could.”

“Fil, my boy, that is an  _ excellent question, _ ” Carmela commends him. 

Dairine flips back to treading so she can look at him. His hands have stilled for the moment, “I think you Filif. You sway with the breeze instead of trying to stand against it.”

Everyone ponders that for a moment. No one has anything to say about it. 

“Dairine, what is the most embarrassing way a spell has gone wrong for you?”

She glares at him, “I know what you want me to say, but I’m not saying it,” she takes a breath and swims to the bottom, sitting for the required ten seconds. She makes sure to come up flailing a little so she can splash him discreetly. He sees right through her and raises a brow in judgement, sending a wave back at her. She retaliates, of course, and this goes on until Carmela yells at them to stop. 

Dairine notices with some satisfaction that his hair has been completely drenched. She then decides to exact her revenge, “Roshaun, what phrase did you mumble in your sleep as a baby?”

Roshaun glares at her in earnest now, “is there not some rule about asking questions you already know the answer to?”

“Not in this case,” Carmela grins happily from her float, “I’m interested to know the answer.”

Roshaun glares at Dairine one last time and then sinks with unfair grace to the bottom of the pool. 

He resurfaces so elegantly ten seconds later that swimsuit models would be jealous. The effect is ruined by him splashing Dairine though. She takes the high road and simply smiles smugly back. 

“Sker’ret, what is your favorite part about Earth?”

“The availability of junk food.”

Dairine snickers. Typical Sker’ret. 

“Filif, what is your favorite custom of your people’s?”

“Rain season rooting.”

Dairine is really starting to get tired from treading water now. She swims gracefully to the edge of the pool and pulls herself up and over the edge. 

“Do you need something, cousin?” Filif asks, “I would have happily gotten it for you.”

“I just wanted some water. Plus I needed a break from treading water.”

Roshaun immediately looks her up and down, concern evident in his gaze, “are you alright?”

Dairine shrugs slightly as she I caos her bottle, “just a little tired, that’s all. It gets to be quite a workout after a while and I was doing some work before you guys arrived.”

“You could climb on my back,” he offers. 

“Okay,” she agrees, capping the bottle and sliding back into the pool. She swims a few strokes over to him and then climbs onto his back and rests her chin gently on his shoulder. His arms come to hold her legs in place. It’s quite comfortable like this. 

“How are things going? With the reforms I mean?” She whispers this ever so softly into his ear, confident he will hear it either aloud or through her thoughts. They communicate like this often. 

She had been meaning to ask all day, but this was the first moment it felt right. Sker’ret, Filif, and Carmela are talking about something on the other end of the pool. She can feel his sigh with her arms wrapped around him like this and she sits back a little, raising her chin from its place on his shoulder. He tilts his head to look at her answering in the same manner, “better than my father thought possible, but it hasn’t been easy.”

“I wish I could come.”

He gives her a stern glare, “we’ve discussed this Dari. It’s safer for you to stay away, at least until the initial shock wears off.”

“I can take care of myself.”

He smiles at her a touch sardonically, “I know you can.”

She rolls her eyes, “and here comes the part where you make your excuse.”

“It’s not even safe for me to be there right now, and I’m Wellakhit. I can’t imagine how you would think anyone in my family would want to submit you to the danger as well.”

Dairine pouts slightly and rests just the edge of her chin back on his shoulder. 

They stay like that for a moment, just looking into each other’s eyes. It’s both a silent war and a truce.  _ I worry about you _ , she admits silently. 

He sighs quietly,  _ I know. I worry about you too.  _

She rests her head more securely on Roshaun’s shoulder and then realizes that the whole time she had been talking to Roshaun, Filif, Carmela, and Sker’ret had still been there. 

“I feel like it was July 11th,” Carmela is telling them. 

Dairine looks at her, “have you guys been playing this whole time without us?”

Carmela rolls her eyes, “not everything revolves around you. While you two were having A Moment, the rest of us were being considerate and giving you privacy. You’re welcome.”

Dairine flushes and pulls her hand out to look at her watch, “actually, it’s probably about time to head out. The pizza should get here soon.”

Dairine climbs off Roshaun’s back and swims the short distance to the edge of the pool, climbing up. She walks over to her towels and dries off enough to pull back on her shirt and shoes. She then wraps her hair in the towel and slides on her sandals. Around her, her friends are similarly engaged. When they’re all ready, Dairine “resets” the playspace and leads the way out. As they traipse out of the trees, her dad tells them that the pizza will be arriving in about five minutes. 

Dairine decides that is plenty of time for a quick shower and heads in to do so, extending the curtesy to Roshaun as well. He’s over often enough to be familiar with the guest bathroom. 

Dairine comes down just as the pizza is arriving. She stands at her dad’s side as he pays the delivery boy and then helps him carry the boxes out to the backyard where everyone has congregated. Nita and Kit are back and Nita is already holding a bottle of Cel-Ray. Dairine shivers slightly, wondering not for the last time how her sister can drink those foul-smelling sodas. Carmela is still gone, but it’s possible she went home to change. Roshaun is also notably absent. 

No one bothers to wait for them though, and all four present hominids dig into the pizzas before they get cold. Roshaun and Carmela show up not too long after they begin eating anyway. Roshaun hadn’t bothered to put back on his formal robes, but opted for a floppy T-Shirt and gauzy pants paired with what she’s pretty sure are knee high laced sandals. His hair is completely dry and perfectly brushed. Dairine smiles privately at that. She hasn’t bothered to dry or brush her own. 

“I had forgotten how...greasy pizza is,” Roshaun comments distastefully as he looks at the food. 

Both Dairine’s dad and Nita roll their eyes. “Make your own dinner,” Dairine suggests. 

He does not, in fact, make his own dinner. Instead, he settles for having one slice of pizza and eating Dairine’s crust. This inspires an eye roll of her own, but she allows it. 

Once everyone is done with dinner, the party begins to disperse. Carmela and Kit have to go home and Nita excuses herself to do some work. Dairine proposes a game of monopoly. She had taught her guests how to play the last time they had done a reunion and despite Filif and Sker’ret needing to use a small wizardry to roll the dice and Dairine needing to do most of the actual moving of pieces and money, it had been a success. 

They play for a few hours. Filif ends up winning, finally forcing Dairine into bankruptcy when she lands on Boardwalk with three hotels. Sker’ret had gone out first, and then Roshaun had followed him not too long after. Between Dairine and Filif, it had been close, though a couple of bad rolls had changed her luck. 

“You guys are still playing Monopoly?” Nita asks as she heads towards the kitchen.

“Nope. Fil just won,” Dairine admits. 

Nita raises a brow as she searches for a knife to cut her apple with, “you beat Dairine and she  _ didn’t  _ kill you?”

Dairine rolls her eyes, “ha. ha.”

She gets up from her spot on the floor and heads into the kitchen, “Sker, Roshaun, could I interest you in popcorn?”

“You’re not planning on watching a movie, are you?”

“No. I thought we would watch one episode of Nailed It. It’s on Netflix. ‘Mela wants to do a movie marathon tomorrow so we’re waiting for her.”

“What kind of entertainment is it?” Filif asks. 

“It’s this baking competition but all the people are really bad at baking. I watch it a lot when I’m feeling overwhelmed or stressed or when I just need a quick break. It’s really funny though.”

“Sounds interesting,” Sker’ret agrees. 

“Indeed,” Filif also sounds interested. 

“It does sound like it could be entertaining,” Roshaun is the last to voice his opinion. 

“I think I’ll join you,” Nita tells her, “I could use some stress relief.”

Roshaun makes his way into the kitchen while Dairine is making the popcorn. Her dad had bought single serving bags for the microwave, so she has decided to make one for everyone. She hands the finished one to Roshaun. He opens it easily, the heat of the bag not bothering him. Wellakhit naturally have a higher heat tolerance than Earthen Humans. She gives him the next bag to open too. In the other room, Nita is bringing up the show on the TV. The last bag of popcorn pops just as Nita selects an episode. Dairine can’t tell which one she has picked, but she doesn’t particularly care. 

Dairine and Roshaun bring the popcorn in and distribute it. This really means Dairine hands a bag to Sker’ret and then sits down next to Nita. Sker’ret is draped mostly over half the couch, with Nita next to him. Filif has taken up residence in one corner and Roshaun claims the last remaining seat, a chair a few feet from the couch. Once everyone is seated, Nita hits play and everyone settles in for a half hour of baking disasters. 

By the end, everyone is laughing. The desserts are comically far from what the examples looked like. She shares a grin with Roshaun at the last one. He had thought that this contestant would win. The judges agree with Roshaun’s assessment it seems as the contestant is named the winner and they shoot off the money gun. 

“That was quite funny,” Sker’ret concludes. 

“I enjoyed it,” Filif adds. 

“I was also entertained,” Roshaun agrees. 

“Glad you all liked it,” Dairine stretches and then glances at her watch, “I think we’d better call it a night.”

Dairine gets up and turns on the light as everyone begins to disperse. Dairine waits until Nita has turned off the TV and then makes her way out of the room as well. She then heads into the kitchen and pours herself a glass of water. Nita’s incessant nagging about drinking more water has finally started to make an impression on her. Once she downs the glass, she washes it briefly and puts it back. 

At this time of night, the backyard is dark and silent. Dairine heads out there anyway, careful to not let the screen door slam. She walks over to the hammock where Roshaun is already laying. His legs are long enough that they still touch the ground. He lifts his arm almost expectantly. Dairine complies easily, sliding into the space he had left for her. 

She snuggles securely into his chest and breathes out gently. They stay like that for a moment, neither of them daring to say anything that might disrupt the peace. Roshaun starts absentmindedly stroking her hair as he gazes up at the moon. 

Dairine is the first to break the silence, “I’ve missed you.”

He laughs briefly, “we’ve talked nearly every day.”

She scrunches up her nose in annoyance, “its not the same.”

He sighs, “I know.”

“You’re going back tomorrow.” It’s not a question. 

“Only for a short while, while you take Sker’ret and Filif to see Redwoods.”

“I’ll allow it,” Dairine tells him, sitting up a little, “but only because I planned this excursion mostly for Filif. I just have two conditions.”

He sighs, but he’s used to her, “which are?”

“You’re back by dinner.”

“Probably before. What’s the other?”

“You kiss me. Right now.”

“A condition I can readily agree to,” this sentence is spoken so closely to her lips she can practically feel his mouth moving to form the words. She closes the gap between them softly and their lips meet in a tender embrace. 

After a moment, she pulls ever so slightly away, “you’d tell me if you were really concerned about things going badly, right?”

He sighs and reaches up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, “wizards can’t lie, Dari.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

He sighs again and rests his forehead against hers, “yes.”

“Good,” and she kisses him gently. 

The kiss quickly gets more heated as Dairine shifts her body to be more on top of Roshaun. There’s an intense emotional undercurrent to it, amplified by the fact that they haven’t seen each other as well as the stress of the reforms. The kiss is almost desperate in nature and Dairine barely can remember to breathe. Time stretches and bends and it’s almost as if it has stopped altogether. This allusion is broken by a voice going, “oh!”

Dairine sits up quickly, forgetting completely that they’re in a hammock and consequently almost falls out backwards. Luckily, Roshaun instinctually reaches out and catches her. Once she’s no longer falling, she shifts so she’s sitting next to him in the hammock again. “Filif!” Dairine speaks as she does so, her face heated in embarrassment, “why-what are you doing back here?”

Filif shifts slightly, “I like to come out and root for the night sometimes. I heard noises so I came to investigate.”

Dairine subtly looks herself over and notes that her clothing is significantly rumpled. A glance at Roshaun shows his own clothes are in a similar state, and his hair is something of a mess.

“We did not intend to disturb you,” Roshaun tells him.

“Or I you. I was not aware you engaged in such activities.”

Dairine’s blush deepens, “well we’ve been dating for almost a year, Fil, so it shouldn’t come as too big a shock.” Filif has seen enough Earthen movies to be somewhat familiar with hominid relationships. He should at least know that kissing is very standard for romantic relationships between hominids. 

“I was not aware you were,” Filif admits, explaining his surprise. 

“We never told you?” Roshaun asks.

“Even if we didn’t, was it not obvious?” Dairine adds a question of her own before Filif can answer. 

“I always thought you would choose to root together, but I believed you were simply passing branches.”

Dairine decides not to try and decipher whatever Filif has said, not entirely sure she’ll like what it means. Roshaun responds for her, “perhaps this discussion can be postponed until the morning, cousin? It is rather late.”

Filif agrees and wishes them a pleasant rest once more. 

Dairine and Roshaun make their way out of the hammock and into the house. They wordlessly head into the basement hand in hand. Once they actually get into his puptent, Dairine gets nervous. This is uncharted territory for them. 

“Did we really not tell Filif we were dating?” Dairine asks to fill the silence. 

“Apparently not,” Roshaun replies, then mutters the words to illuminate the space. Once light floods the space, Roshaun lets go if her hand and moves to sit on a chair. He then begins the process of taking off his sandals. 

Dairine copies him and sits on an opulently decorated chair to unlace her shoes, mostly to have something to do. She typically doesn’t bother. “I would’ve thought he would’ve figured it out, but most of the time we spend with Fil is in The Crossings, so I guess it makes sense.” She kicks off her shoes and then leans back to watch Roshaun across from her. He’s still unlacing the ridiculously complicated sandals he’s wearing. “And it’s not like we make out in front of everyone, either,” she continues her musings. 

“Indeed we do not,” he agrees, “but it also may be more difficult for Filif to perceive relationship changes between hominids since he has little practical experience.”

“That’s a good point. I wouldn’t know what to look for to discern relationships between members of Demisiv.”

“Nor would I,” Roshaun finally has managed to remove both his sandals. 

“Are the sandals all you’re going to be taking off?” Dairine asks boldly, confidence mostly false. 

He raises a brow at her and slowly peels off his shirt. Dairine watches the movement, entranced, and then takes her time admiring him. “And you?” he asks, “will your shoes not be joined by other items of clothing?”

“I was thinking about taking off this shirt, but I might need some help.”

He raises a brow, “is that so? May I offer my assistance?”

“That would be most welcome, thank you,” she stands up almost in sync with him. 

“Are you sure about this?” he asks.

She stands on her tiptoes and throws her arms behind his neck, kissing him briefly before pulling back, “very sure. You?”

“Very sure,” he echos. 

“Good,” she looks up at him expectantly.

He fingers the hem of her shirt briefly and then draws it up over her head. 

Shirt thus removed, Dairine wraps her arms back around Roshaun’s neck. Their eyes meet and she holds his gaze. He runs his hands along her sides briefly and then in one movement, picks her up and dims the lights. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a disclaimer, this work is by no means meant to endorse or support underage sexual relationships. IF characters were to engage in such a relationship, however, I would expect them to do so safely and with consent.


	2. To Redwoods and the Stars

Dairine wakes up to darkness and it takes a moment for her to realize where she is. Once she does, the events of the night before come rushing back. She’s not completely sure when they fell asleep but it was probably in the early hours of the morning. With this in mind, she extracts her arm from under the covers and Roshaun’s arm to check the time. It’s 9:47. She groans internally, dreading getting up. Sker’ret and Filif are probably already up and Roshaun needs to get headed to Wellakh so she forces herself to begin convincing her body to move. 

She decides the first step is to wake up Roshaun. She’s not entirely sure how to go about that. She ultimately decides on simply getting up herself. If he doesn’t wake up, she’ll deal with it then. Before getting up though, she spins to face Roshaun. The blanket had slipped from his shoulders at some point in the night, leaving them exposed. His face is turned towards her, and he looks completely at ease like this. His face and body are free of the tension and stress usually present in his posture. She traces a hand feather light over his jaw and then gets up. 

As she leaves the bed, he begins to stir, just as she had hoped. She doesn’t quite feel like putting on yesterday’s clothes and instead picks up the floppy shirt Roshaun had been wearing yesterday from where he had tossed it on the ground. When she pulls her head through and can see again, Roshaun is sitting up drowsily. “Good morning,” she yawns. 

“I see you’ve decided to steal my shirt,” he comments. 

She shrugs, “it’s comfy.”

“Rather unfortunate,” he smirks, “I preferred you without it.”

She rolls her eyes at him and goes to his dresser, tossing the first shirt she sees at him, “get dressed, Casanova. The others are probably already up and waiting and you have a planet to run.”

“A regrettable deduction,” he pulls the shirt over his head, still not out of bed. 

Dairine busies herself looking for a hairbrush. It’s in the top drawer of his vanity, which was luckily the first place she looked. There’s something to be said for knowing someone. Hairbrush located, she sets to work trying to tame the wild mane that her hair has become. She didn’t brush it after showering last night and then Roshaun had messed it up even further, so it actually is quite a disaster. By the time she has it calmed, Roshaun is already fully dressed. She passes the brush over. 

Roshaun actually winces upon seeing his reflection and Dairine has to bite down a chuckle. He manages to get his hair into its customary state of perfection rather quickly though, which makes her only a little envious. Wellakhit hair is in general less prone to tangles and brushes through more easily should it get tangled, a fact Dairine learned from a particularly grueling ‘spa day’ with Lady Miril. This knowledge has always made her feel better about her lack of long hair, since hers is harder to take care of. It also has calmed her desire to have Lady Miril’s hair. Somewhat. 

Roshaun sets down the brush, which Dairine takes as her cue to head upstairs. She leads the way up the steps, holding his hand all the way, pausing at the top for him to catch up so she can lean on his arm. She hasn’t had her coffee yet, so she’s tired. Also, he makes a good mobile pillow. 

They enter the kitchen and three sets of human and several non-human eyes turn to them. These eyes display a variety of feelings. One set looks protective, one confused, one inquisitive, and two mischievous. 

“Well, well, well,” one of the owners of the mischievous pair grins, “look at our innocent little Dairine. Not so very innocent after all, are we?”

“Nope. It is too early for this ‘Mela.”

“If I were to repeat my first question from our delightful pool game yesterday, would your answer still be the same?”

Dairine glared at her and dropped Roshaun’s hand, headed for the coffee, “yes it would, because I still wouldn’t tell you. Please leave me to my coffee in peace. I’m tired.”

“Wonder why that could be,” Kit says, the second pair of mischievous eyes.

The protective look in Nita’s eyes becomes more prominent, “Dairine-”

“Nope. No lectures from you either. Can none of you leave me in peace?”

Roshaun doesn’t even look sympathetic, sitting at the table with a waffle from the stack in front of him. She glares at him, too, for good measure. She takes a seat next to him still, though, figuring it’s the safest choice and practically inhales her coffee. Once she’s finished the first cup, she picks out a waffle of her own. It’s a little cold, so she whispers a quick spell to warm it just slightly. The exertion is practically equal to going to the toaster and back, but is ultimately worth it simply because of the speed at which the waffle becomes warm. 

“So what are our plans for today?” Carmela asks.

“Redwoods,” Dairine answers, “Filif has expressed an interest.”

Carmela wrinkles her nose slightly, “I think I’ll pass. Not really my jam.”

“Neets, Kit, you wanna join?” Dairine asks, to be polite.

They share a look, “for a couple hours maybe,” Nita answers for the both of them.

Everyone finishes breakfast at a leisurely pace after deciding on their plans for the day, talking in twos and threes about a variety of topics. Dairine, Filif, and Sker’ret discuss what they want to see while at Redwoods. Spot helpfully contributes by showing the guests images of the different things they discuss. They decide on a few areas of the park, just enough for about a half-day trip, maybe a bit over if they explore for longer than they planned for. Plans this decided on, the group breaks up. Roshaun and Dairine steal a quiet moment in the living room to say goodbye before Dairine heads upstairs to put on her hiking outfit. 

Just under an hour later, they’re being dwarfed by the incomprehensibly tall trees. They’re beautiful, a cacophony of shades of red, brown, and even purple spreads across the bark, making them look even more majestic. They end up staying for longer than they planned, mostly because there is so much to explore. Nita takes a lot of photos, and then forces Dairine to take a lot of photos of her and Kit. Nita had recently downloaded Instagram, and she was still working on ‘cultivating her perfect online image’ in Carmela’s words. So far as Dairine could tell (she didn’t have an account herself so she could t be positive), Neets mostly posted photos of trees, the ocean, or her and Kit. Two of those three subjects were currently in the same place, so Dairine assumed the photos would be headed out for all the people who followed @neetscallahan_ to see later today. 

When they’ve seen (and talked with) a good variety of trees, they find an isolated spot to transit back from. Back in New York, there’s only about an hour before dinner. Nita volunteers to make some sort of stuffed pasta dish, leaving Dairine, Filif, and Sker’ret to play an especially cutthroat game of  _ Eodue _ , a Rirhait sculpting strategy game. They had modified the rules of the game slightly to account for the difference in limbs the very first time Sker’ret had introduced them to the game and it had worked well, making the game even more competitive than it probably should have been. They’re completely immersed in the game when Roshaun strides into the backyard. Dairine doesn't even register his presence until the game ends and she looks up. 

“How long have you been here?”

“Long enough to know Filif is clearly the winner.”

Dairine frowns and examines her structure. Sker’ret sets the judging square on each one of their structures. “Filif is the winner,” Sker’ret announces. 

Dairine wrinkles her nose at Roshaun, “you messed with it.”

“I did no such thing. Your sculpture is just inferior. I am not responsible for that.” 

She raises a brow at him skeptically but lets the subject drop. She does take a moment to look him over. He is hiding it well, but he is weary. Wellakh must have been more taxing than he is willing to let on. 

“Dinner’s ready!” Nita yells from the kitchen. 

“Guests first,” Dairine says in a show of hostess’s manners. 

Dairine follows her friends to the house and to the table. She takes her seat next to Roshaun. Carmela does not appear, but Kit seems to be staying. That happens more frequently now. Kit practically lives with them, and when he’s not around, Nita’s at his place. It’s a wonder they don’t get sick of each other. Still, it’s better than when they’re fighting. The lovebirds had had a total of one major fight since they started dating and it was two days of slamming doors and unusually tense atmosphere in the house. Dairine had been exceedingly glad when they had made up (and made out, probably) and gone back to being inseparable. Besides, Kit is the older brother she never had, it’s weird when he’s not around now. 

Actually, everyone at the table is practically family. Wizardry is a lot of things. Scary, certainly. Fun, obviously. But the heart of wizardry is love and Dairine has found that here. 

“Earth to Dairine,” Nita calls, “what’s got you so spacey?”

Dairine raises a brow, “the smell of dinner. Pass the food down would you?”

Roshaun smiles softly over at her, probably because he had caught some of the underlying feelings or even the thoughts themselves. She can’t bring herself to care. She does smack him lightly, though, for appearances. 

“What are you young folk up to after dinner?” Dairine’s dad asks. 

Dairine swallows her pasta, “music swap and then stargazing in the backyard. It’s supposed to be clear skies tonight.”

He nods his approval, “I was thinking of weeding the front garden before it gets too dark.”

“I have some wizard homework to catch up on,” Nita informs them, “I’ll probably be in my room the rest of the night.”

Kit groans, “I have some actual homework to catch up on. None of my teachers seem to understand the concept of a break.”

Nita squeezes his hand sympathetically. 

When dinner is over, everyone heads off to their various engagements. The dishes remain unwashed in the sink. Dairine’s dad had proclaimed he would do them after his gardening. Dairine wasn't about to complain and followed her friends into the basement for a listening session. Each of them had agreed to pick three songs to share, each one relevant to a different person somehow. For Filif, Dairine had picked  _ Colors of the Wind _ from Pocahontas.  _ Rollercoaster _ by Bleachers was her pick for Sker’ret. Roshaun had been tough, but eventually she decided on  _ I Don’t Know Why _ by NOTD and Astrid S. Part of the fun was also that everyone had to guess which song was meant for them. When Dairine plays her choices, all three guess correctly, which means she did a good job. When Roshaun’s song plays, Dairine avoids eye contact, knowing she’s probably blushing. 

No one is able to guess which song is theirs from Filif’s choices. Dairine is the only one who guesses correctly from Sker’ret, but she and Sker’ret frequently swap music. Guessing Roshaun’s song for her is quite easy and leaves her blushing again. Sker’ret also is able to pick out his song from Roshaun. Dairine ends up winning the mini competition, seeing as each person is awarded a point for every one of their songs they guess correctly and for each person who picks the correct song from their offerings. That leaves Dairine with a total of five points, three from the boys guessing her songs correctly and two from her being able to pick out the ones meant for her. Roshaun and Sker’ret come in tied for second with three points each and Filif comes in last with only one point. It makes sense since his people are not really avid music-listeners. 

By the time the songs have been swapped and the totals have been totaled, it is almost dark enough to begin stargazing. Everyone disperses to change, get stargazing equipment, or find snacks. Dairine is one of those who changes, putting on her pajamas and getting a big blanket to lay on and then another to actually use as a blanket. She makes her way to the backyard, craning her neck over the blankets in her arms so as to be able to see the steps and not fall on her face.

Once in the backyard, she sets out her blanket next to where Filif has rooted in a pot supplied by her father. Sker’ret and Roshaun have yet to show, so they make small talk and Filif tells Dairine about the latest Demisiv gossip. Filif is halfway through a particularly interesting tale about his cousin and a contentious water source when Sker’ret and Roshaun emerge. Roshaun, naturally, has brought no blanket of his own and plops down on Dairine’s instead. She glares at him before turning back to Fil for the rest of the story. 

In the end, Fil’s cousin won round one of the water source battle and also picked up a new girlfriend, which was a pretty satisfying end to the gossip session, at least in Dairine’s mind. The stars were also starting to come out now, so she laid back on her ground blanket and snuggled under the other. Roshaun laid next to her, feet hanging off the end and Dairine decided to make use of him as a pillow. In retaliation, he took half her blanket. 

“What constellations are we looking for?” Sker’ret asks.

Dairine points out the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and Orion, and what she’s pretty sure is Cassiopeia before calling Spot over. They make it into a sort of game, Spot showing a diagram of the constellation and everyone racing to see who spots it correctly first. Dairine is pretty fast when she sees them, but Filif is by far the best. Sker’ret and Roshaun are abysmal. After a while, Roshaun gives up altogether and begins sort of absentmindedly braiding Dairine’s hair. She snuggles a little closer to him, but keeps her eyes trained on the night sky. After a while, her responses become slower and slower and her eyelids become heavy. She has the vague idea of getting up and going to bed, but it’s warm under the blanket and she’s comfortable so she tells herself she’ll just stay here for five more minutes and then she will actually get up and go inside. 

Five minutes blends into twenty and eventually Dairine’s eyes close and she drifts off to sleep. 

  
  
  


~*~

It’s a rude awakening indeed when the sprinklers go off just as the sun is rising the next morning. Dairine is soundly asleep one moment and the next she is leaping off the ground. Roshaun, too, looks extremely startled. He looks to be still mostly asleep, but has no problems overtaking Dairine in their uncoordinated race to the porch. Once on dry land, Dairine takes a moment to process what had just happened. The four of them had obviously fallen asleep stargazing. Sker’ret is also on the porch, but looks unbothered by the fact that he is wet. Roshaun is disheveled and partially soaked, a far cry from his usual put together appearance. Dairine is probably the worst of the three of them. Filif is still in the yard, unbothered by the sprinklers. 

Dairine wants to be angry, really she does. Her blanket is out on the lawn getting soaked and she can already feel the soreness from the impromptu camp out creeping in. Instead, she laughs. 

“Come on, we’re already soaked. Let’s dance in the sprinklers!” 

Roshaun looks at her as if she has lost her marbles, but she doesn’t care. She skips back to the water and twirls in the mist, a little giddy and not quite herself. Sker’ret and Roshaun observe for a moment before they join her as well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was a pretty quick, but I really wanted more content of Dairine, Roshaun, Filif, and Sker'ret just hanging out. Seriously, these guys are my weakness. I promise, though, my next fic will include Dairshaun as (gasp) "just friends". A poor modifier, I am aware.


End file.
